Air-conditioned tobacco barn



Aug. 24, 1937. R. E. MAYO AIR-CONDITIONED TOBACCO BARN 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 12, 1935 Aug. 24, 1937. R. E. MAYO 2,090,633

AIR-CONDITIONED TOBACCO BARN Filed Dec. 12, 1935 3 Sheets-Shet? Hum l By wwz w WITNESS Aug. 24, 1937'. R. E. MAYO ,090,

AIR-CONDITIONED TOBACCO BARN v Filed Dec. 12, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 liewmlc m a wrmzss ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 24, 19 37 UNITED STATES" PATENT ,oFrrcE j This invention relatesto tobacco curing buildings or barns, and has for the primary object the provision of a device of this character wherein tobacco while arranged on curing racks'may be subjected to artificial heat to assure rapid and efiicient curing of said tobacco within a minimum length of time, the air being taken from the exterior of the building and heated to a desired temperature for passage upwardly in the buildingabout the tobacco and exhausting throughthe roof of the building, said air being controlled both at the intake and exhaust so that the air within the building will be conditioned properly to bring about the best curing results and reduce l5 tobacco sweating and the damages to tobacco incident thereto.

With these and other objects in view, this invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more ully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a tobacco curing house or barn constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view illus-,

trating the same. Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view showing the arrangement of the heating means.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in section, showing one of the heating mediums.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the air intake of the heating means.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the means of controlling the exhaust of air from the building.

Figure 7 is a detail view showing one of the ventilators arranged in the end walls of the building.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the fuel supply means for the heating means.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary perspective view showing means of mounting one of the temporary racks.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral I indicates in entirety a building or barn especially adapted for the curing of tobacco and is so constructed that air may be regulated through the interior thereof and artificially heated to efficiently and rapidly cure the tobacco.

The building or barn includes side and end walls 2 and 3 with a gable-type roof 4 having ventilating openings 5 controlled by a ventilator 6. One

.tional formation joined together, as shown at IQ,

of the end walls 3 has a doorway I closed by a hinged door 8 and both end walls adjacent the roof 4 have ventilating openings 9 controlled by slidable ventilators l0 operated by flexible elements ll trained over'pulleys II. The flexible elements extend within reach of a personon the ground so that the ventilators Iii may be raised or lowered for varying the size of the ventilator openings 9. p

Arranged within the upper portion of the build- 10 ing or barn l is a plurality of superimposed permanent racks l3 consisting of bars arranged to extend both transversely and longitudinally of the building. The bars of the racks are fastened in any suitable way to the walls of the building. 5 The lowermost rack is spaced a desired distance from the floor to give head room within the build- A center aisle l4 extends from the doorway 1 and is defined by vertical members l5 extending from the floor to the lowermost rack l3. The walls of the building opposite to the members M have secured thereto supporting strips it having notches I! to receive removable racks I 8 inthe form of bars. The members l5 are each of secdefining between each section a slot 20. The slots 20 align horizontally with the notches ll of the supporting strip so that the racks i8 may be slid through the slots 20 into the notches H. The temporary racksiare employed when bringing tobacco into the building by way of the doorway 'I, the workers placing the tobacco onto the temporary racks where the tobacco can be obtained by other persons standing higher up in the building for the purpose of placing said tobacco on the permanent racks I3. The temporary racks may be readily removed at any time desired. A concrete flooring 2! is provided between the walls of the building and the aisle It. The concrete flooring is level on which rests a plurality of heating means 22. The arrangement of the heating means is clearly shown in Figure S'and each means is in the form of a liquid fuel stove having a plurality of burners 23 positioned with- 45 in a casing 24, the top of which is open. Burn ers of this kind may be found upon the market employed for various purposes, said burners being supplied with fuel from a fuel feed means 25 of a conventional construction and which includes 50 a pipe 26 leading to the burners and equipped with control valves each having a control medium 21. The heating means 22 rests upon the floor and maybe removed from the building at any time desired so that they may be employed for 55 other purposes. Each heating means or the pipe 26 thereof when employed in the barn is closed or plugged at the supply means 25 and the opposite end of the pipe has a union or coupling 28 for 5 connecting said pipe to a feed pipe 29 extending about the interior of the building. The feed pipe at one end extends through a wall of the building and connects to a reservoir 38. The reservoir 30 is mounted on a suitable stand 3i exteriorly of the building and also the standsupports a ham. of

fuel oil 32. Leading irom'the barrel to the reservoir 30 is a pipe 33 equipped with a float controlled valve 34. The float controlled valve is arranged in the reservoir 39 and regulates the amount of oil or fuel in the reservoir. By this arrangement as the fuel in the reservoir is consumed by the heating means it is replenished automatically from the barrel 32. The pipe 33 is removable from the barrel 32 so that when the barrel is exhausted another barrel may be substituted therefor and connected with the pipe 33.

Each heating means 22 or the casing 24 thereof has upstanding arms 35 for supporting a hood 35 over the burners 23 and spaced from the casing 24. Bolts are secured to the hood 36 and extend through the arms 35 and have threaded thereto wing nuts 31 which permit the adjust ment of the hood '35 to regulate the passing of the heat upwardly in the building from the burners. One end of the hood is connected with and air intake pipe 38 which extends through the building to the exterior thereof and has a downwardly depending end 39. A damper l. is located in the end "whereby the air passing into the hood may be regulated. In operation, after the tobacco has been arranged in the building for curing, the'burners are lighted and the air taken in from the exterior of 40 the building by way of the pipes 38 is artificially nected thereto springs 43 acting to urge the plates 4| intoengagement 'with the roof. Connected to the pairs of links are flexible elements 44 depend ing in reach of a person on the ground so that the plates Ii may be swung away from the root to open the ventilating openings 5.

Thepairs of links assume anguiarly-related pocontact the root and when actuated by the flexible elements I move into parallelism so as to sup-' port the plates 4| in ventilator opening position. Having described the invention, I claim: A tobacco curing barn including an enclosure provided with vertically disposed side and end walls and a roof and a doorway in one of the end wallsya tobacco rack supported by the walls abovesaid doorway, rows of vertically disposed members arranged below the rack and defining a center aisle extending from the doorway and each member consisting of connected spaced sections defining slots, cleats secured to walls of the enclosure and arranged in horizontal alignment with the slots, rack bars extending through the slots into engagement with the cleats on which tobacco may be temporarily placed prior to being positioned on the tobacco rack, heating devices located in the enclosure between the walls there-- of and the aisle, and ventilating means in the roof above the aisle.

REUBEN E. MAYO.

- sitions relative to each other when the plates 4| 

